Genome-wide transcriptional analysis of the compatible A. thaliana-P. syringae pv. tomato DC3000 interaction

Pseudomonas syringae pv. tomato DC3000 (Pst) is a virulent pathogen, which causes disease on tomato and Arabidopsis. The type III secretion system (TTSS) plays a key role in pathogenesis by translocating virulence effectors from the bacteria into the plant host cell, while the phytotoxin coronatine (COR) contributes to virulence and disease symptom development. Recent studies suggest that both the TTSS and and COR are involved in the suppression of host basal defenses. However, little is known about the interplay between the host gene expression associated with basal defenses and the virulence activities of the TTSS and COR during infection. The global effects of the TTSS and COR on host gene expression associated with other host cellular processes during bacterial infection are also not well characterized. In this study, we used the Affymetrix full genome chip to determine the Arabidopsis transcriptome associated with basal defense to Pst DC3000 hrp mutants and the human pathogenic bacterium Escherichia coli O157:H7. We then used Pst DC3000 virulence mutants to characterize Arabidopsis transcriptional responses to the action of hrp-regulated virulence factors (e.g., TTSS and COR) during bacterial infection. Additionally, we used bacterial fliC mutants to assess the role of the PAMP flagellin in induction of basal defense-associated transcriptional responses. In total, our global gene expression analysis identified more than 5000 Arabidopsis genes that are reproducibly regulated more than 2-fold in three independent biological replicates of at least one type of comparison. Regulation of these genes provides a molecular signature for Arabidopsis basal defense to plant and human pathogenic bacteria, and illustrates both common and distinct global virulence effects of the TTSS, COR, and possibly other hrp-regulated virulence factors during Pst DC3000 infection.

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